The present disclosure relates generally to molded plastic garment hangers as are widely used for the purpose of shipping and displaying garments. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a garment hanger, which can be selectively used and reused with two different garment size indicators to provide a versatile garment hanger. As a result, the garment hanger can be reused to save materials, and thus, is environmentally advantageous.
In the area of retail garment sales, so-called Garment-On-Hanger (GOH) programs have become preferred by retailers. In a GOH program, garments are delivered to retail merchants already suspended from hangers, where upon arrival at the retail location the garments are immediately placed on display for sale.
In particular, retailers have specified particular hangers or hanger characteristics among suppliers in order to achieve uniformity on their sales floors. To this end, standards as to hanger size, shape, performance characteristics, etc., are maintained, for example, by organizations such as the Voluntary Inter-industry Commerce Standards Association (VICS). Intimate apparel hangers, pinch grip hangers, top garment hangers and so on are among the standardized hangers under the VICS standards.
Additionally, and interrelated to the promulgation of GOH programs, retailers and their customers desire to have the hanger itself display some indicia regarding the item carried upon it. Categories of indicia include origin of manufacturer, materials of the garments and prices of the garments, but mostly the sizes of garments. Among the various means developed for accomplishing this, so-called lower neck size indicators are widely applied and recognized in the industry. Lower neck size indicators are secured to the hanger at or adjacent the intersection of the hook and the hanger body, to provide a displaying surface on which garment sizes are printed.
Typically, a type of hanger is designed only to be usable with a specific type of size indicator. With the increasing need to display more information related to garments, more types of size indicators have been designed, which in turn requires more types of hangers to be molded. As known in the hanger-molding industry, whenever a new mold is created for making hangers, significant cost associated with designing, testing and revising the mold will be incurred. Thus, it is desirable in the industry to provide a versatile hanger, which can be used and reused with different size indicators to save material and cost of manufacture.